Will to Power
by Cytherea4
Summary: Cameron's quest for House she battles with an annoying secretary, a shocking discovery, and her own relationship. Starts off as CamOC, but I promise that it will be HouseCam soon enough. I own only the OC characters I have created here. Please review!


The Will to Power 

Chapter 1

I had barely closed the door before I practically exploded.

"He faked cancer?! He faked cancer. What on earth is wrong with that man?!"

Chase shrugged and Foreman shook his head.

"God knows, but whatever it is, it isn't good. He was that desperate…"

"Come on, let's get out of here. I know a place near here that we can relax and get something to eat. We've been working on this so vigorously, we haven't had any time for ourselves."

Chase was right, of course. So we went to get some food. We spent the rest of the night analyzing House's insane behavior. Foreman insisted that this proved how much of a drug addict he really was. Chase was disappointed. He didn't say anything, but I could see it in his face. Yet again he had figured out a case and got absolutely no recognition for it. He had been so excited that he was the one to save House from brain cancer. I was upset, and hurt. I couldn't help but feel betrayed, even though I knew I really didn't have the right to. House was House. I shouldn't have put it past him to pull something like this, but I was so worried and concerned that it really hit me when he told us he had made this whole thing up. I had tried to make it seem like I didn't care, when I know that he knew how much I did anyways.

We sat there talking for hours after we'd finished eating, almost until close. But the waiter was great. He never complained, and of course, we gave him a good tip. We decided that this had to be our new spot. They didn't mind us staying when we weren't eating, and I know that the waiter was happy when he saw how much we left him. It was certain that we would be back.

On my way home, something struck me. Maybe Foreman was wrong. Maybe House wasn't actually that addicted, maybe he was just in that much pain and there was nothing else he could do about it. I felt so bad for House. I hated seeing him in pain, and this has to mean that it is getting worse. I wish there was something I could do to help, but aside from giving him shots of morphine, I knew there wasn't. Maybe if we hadn't said anything, hadn't called the hospital, he would have gotten it and it would have helped—but what was I thinking? We didn't know he was making this up, and we were so excited that he was going to be okay. How could I feel sorry for the jerk? But there it was, I did. After all that… nothing he could do would make me stop caring for him so deeply. And I drifted off to sleep with these thoughts.

Chapter 2

It was the next night, and Chase suggested we all go back for dinner again. I certainly wasn't opposed. My social life is so limited that it was nice to be able to go out, even if it was only with my coworkers. They were good company, after all, and we always have plenty to talk about.

We got to the restaurant, and our waiter from the previous night recognized us and asked that we be seated in his section. We smiled. He knew we'd be there for way too long, but that we'd make it worth for him again. We sat down and relaxed for a minute, and then he came to take our order. I happened to glance out the window, and to my surprise, House was standing at the door, with his hand on the doorknob, looking as though he was about to come in! I looked away, hoping that he hadn't seen me. If he really was going to come join us, I knew that he would just walk away if he realized I had seen him. Sure enough, he came in, glanced around for a moment, and then headed straight towards us. Remembering that I was the only one who had (secretly) already forgiven House, I knew I had to be the one to make this seem natural. I let the boys see him first. They were unsure of what he was doing, but then I turned and smiled at House.

"House! Care to join us?" I moved over to give him space. Foreman and Chase looked at me like I was crazy, but I just smiled at them too. House sat down, and after a momentary awkward silence, we began talking as though things were normal. By the end of the night (we had stayed there until forever again) we, of course, ended up picking up House's tab. As we departed, I knew that House would be joining us from now on at our regular meeting place.

Chapter 3

Sure enough, I was right. We went out to dinner about once a week, House joining us pretty regularly. It got to the point where if he wasn't going, we wouldn't go either. It was nice to have a relationship with him (and each other) outside of the hospital. But we didn't tell anyone else, and we never talked about it at work. We only referred to it in public as our "regular meeting place". Everything at work stayed the same. He was still the same old House, but I was happy. I don't think I would have liked him as much had he changed.

Chapter 4

A few months had gone by with nothing of interest happening. But then one morning, everything changed. A patient that we had diagnosed a few weeks back had given our department a grant, and rather than allow House to get his hands on the money and do something crazy, like buy us a lounge with couches and a big screen tv, Cuddy decided to hire a secretary to help out with the paperwork of the department. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. It was typically my job to do House's dirty work, and although I am a licensed doctor, it really never bothered me. But I didn't have a say in the matter, so I figured I would just make the best of it and enjoy my free time.

A new desk had been set up last week, but this particular morning when I walked in, someone was sitting there. The room smelled of coffee, so I figured that she had gone to get something at the cafeteria before reporting to her first day of work. The girl was a bit taller than average, on the thin side, and had shoulder length brown hair with blonde and copper highlights. I assumed that she was the new secretary and immediately went over to introduce myself. I extended my hand to her, smiling warmly.

"Hi, I'm Allison Cameron, one of the fellows under Dr. House." She smiled awkwardly at me, and nodded her head. She seemed very reluctant to talk to me, regardless of how welcoming I was being to her. I genuinely did want to be her friend, but she was having none of it. When she spoke, she had a Russian accent, and I later learned that she was from Kyrgyzstan. Her name was Felia Sidorova, and she was indeed our new secretary.

I decided that it was about time for me to make the coffee. I know how much House hates it when anyone else makes it, and I wanted it to be done before he came in. Not that he was going to be on time, but at least if it was done, Foreman and Chase didn't have to try to make it themselves. But as I walked over to the coffee pot, I realized that it was full, sans about a mug full. I glanced back over at the desk. Sure enough, she had a mug—wait, she had House's red mug! He was not going to be happy. Usually I would have said something to her, to warn her, but I was so flustered that she had made the coffee that I wasn't sure what to do. I heard the door open and I turned around as Foreman and Chase entered the office, then sat down without taking any coffee.

Foreman and Chase both went up to Felia and introduced themselves. I found it strange that she seemed much more receptive to both of them. She actually talked to them and told them where she was from. I was slightly offended. I didn't know what I had done to make her so put off by me, but I had a feeling already that this was not going to be good.

House entered the office, late as usual, and glanced over at Felia. Foreman and Chase immediately sat down, but Felia jumped up and walked over to House, red mug in hand. She handed the mug to him, full of steaming hot coffee, and smiled at him. House took it, and without saying another word, walked into his office.

I was furious. It seemed that in her first twenty minutes of work, she had managed to insult me, befriend Chase and Foreman, and escape House's wrath. He didn't even make a sarcastic comment!

Minutes later, House reemerged and threw a file at us.

Chapter 5

"25 year old woman, just returned from a honeymoon in the Caribbean, complaining of sharp pains in her chest. She thought she was having a heart attack, and when her doctor informed her that healthy, young, Caucasian women don't have heart attacks, she became indignant and asked for another doctor. He tried to convince her that it was most likely acid reflux or just stress from the wedding, but at this point, her husband became involved and contacted Cuddy. Cuddy sent her to us. So here we are."

"Did they do any tests?" Chase asked.

"Of course they did, but we have to do them again. Foreman, I want an electrocardiogram and an X-ray; Chase, get a better history."

"Acid reflux" Felia said "My father has that!" I was shocked that she spoke up. Not only did she speak up, but she was trying to take part in our discussion! She clearly knew nothing about medicine. I hoped that this was a one-time occurrence, but the excitement on her face told me differently. Now I was truly worried. And House still remained silent. He went to go back into his office, but I called out to him.

"Dr. House! May I speak with you for a moment?" He barely nodded his head, but I followed him in and shut the door behind me.

"Foreman and I are both writing articles on some of our more recent cases. In order to prevent this from becoming another killing spree, we decided to work on them together and help each other out. If we have any extra time, do you mind if we spend it on that?"

"No, but I did prefer the killing much better. Hmmm… maybe we can rearrange the office into a gladiator ring…"

I smiled and left House to his thoughts. As I exited his office, I saw Felia glaring at me out of the corner of my eye. I didn't let it bother me, and figured I would go down to the clinic.

I had barely gotten there when I was paged.

Chapter 6

Everyone was already there when I got back up to the office. Foreman stuck the X-ray up on the screen and we all leaned in to examine it.

"Alright then" said House "we have a rounded legion on the left side of her lung—" Just then, Felia cut him off.

"I see it! Right there! Oh wow…" But House didn't even react.

"I'm going to get Wilson." And he walked out.

I was incredulous. She had just done it again! And House didn't say anything!

"I've already done a CAT scan, I did it as soon as I saw this" Foreman began, but was interrupted. Felia began to loudly bug Chase.

"Is that a tumor? Does she have cancer? Does she smoke? Smoking is bad. My uncle died of lung cancer…" I couldn't take it anymore. I walked away, and surprisingly enough, Foreman followed me. It was evident from the look on his face that he felt the same way, and I sighed with relief. As long as I wasn't making up this whole thing, I figured I was safe. I still couldn't understand why House was ignoring her. I took a breath to say something to Foreman, but at that moment, House and Wilson walked back in.

"Chase!" House barked, "anything new in the history, or did you just spend your whole time flirting with the newlywed, seducing her with your sexy British accent?" Chase rolled his eyes.

"No. She's perfectly healthy. A non-smoker, active. She said she had a slight cough, but that was it. No fever, no night sweats, grandfather died of prostate cancer. Nothing else of significance."

House grabbed his markers and started writing on the board.

"Ok, what do we have for … umm… the patient?"

"Jody!" Felia chimed in, "Jody Samson." How on earth did she know the patient's name? _I_ didn't even know it.

House began listing the symptoms on the board:

Sharp chest pain

Cough

Rounded legion

"Ok, what the differential?"

"It could just be a case of pneumonia" suggested Chase.

"You said it yourself, she doesn't have a fever" Foreman retorted.

"Could it be an allergic reaction?" I asked, "new pets, new products, drugs?"

"We'll get a tox screen to check for drugs. I'm sure they're crazy in the Caribbean, must be the new thing. All the newlyweds are doing it! Come on, what else people?"

"What about lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease?" Wilson proposed.

"She doesn't have all the symptoms to fit that yet. Cameron, get a tox screen, and Wilson, get the patient's consent to do a biopsy."

"House! Does she really need a biopsy? There is barely anything wrong with her and you want to cut into her lung?" Foreman protested.

"If by, 'nothing wrong with her', you mean, a tumor that may continue to grow until there is nothing we can do for her aside from let her die from cancer? Yeah. We're doing the biopsy."

Chapter 7

Wilson and I left together and walked down to her room in silence. I was horrified. This poor young girl, just married, might have cancer?! All I could think of was my husband, and what this poor man was going to have to go through. At least I knew what I was getting into, and here he is, excited and happy to have just started a new life together with the woman that he loves, and she may be dying. A tear slid from my eye and I quickly brushed it away. I knew how Wilson would scold me if he saw me getting all emotional. Especially because I hadn't even met the patient yet!

We walked into the room, and there, lying in the bed, was a vivacious young woman. She had short blonde hair and a smile that would light up the room. I took a deep breath before approaching her.

"Hi Jody, my name is Dr. Cameron. We have a few theories about what may be wrong with you, but I need to ask you a few questions first ok? It is very important that you tell me the truth."

She nodded, confused. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

I just smiled. If only she knew! In the meantime, Wilson had asked to speak to her husband outside. We both knew that this would make it easier on both of them.

"Have you been exposed to anything new, especially on your honeymoon? A new pet or animal that you'd never been around before, use any new products, take any drugs?"

"No, no… none of those things. Do you think it is an allergy?"

"Well, not exactly. We aren't sure yet, but we need to explore every angle and eliminate every option. I'm going to have to run a drug test on you, ok? We just need to be sure."

She was clearly uncomfortable with this, but seemed to understand. She nodded at me. When I left, I pulled Wilson aside and spoke to him quietly.

"Wilson, this isn't urgent yet, right? Can't we wait for the result of the tox screen before telling her that she might be dying of cancer? Before we cut into her lung?" Wilson shook his head.

"We can wait to do the biopsy, but I have to tell her now and get her consent. She needs to know what she is up against, and I've already informed the husband. He isn't taking this too well, and she needs to hear it from us before she hears it from him." I sighed. I knew he was right. As much as I wanted to believe that she was going to be ok, she seemed so sincere when she answered my questions that I had a feeling that the tox screen was going to come back clean. Wilson went to go talk to her, and I went to go run the test.

Chapter 8

Sure enough, the tox screen came back negative. So there it was, we were definitely looking at cancer.

I brought the results back to the office. The rest of the team saw my downtrodden face and knew it had to be clean. I put the paper down on the table. To my surprise (although at this point, I don't know why I was so surprised anymore), Felia grabbed it.

"House, the tox screen was clean. She is negative for all drugs."

"What does this mean? What do all these things mean?" she babbled. I was so frustrated with her that I turned to glare at her.

"Hold on a minute, and I'll tell you." I tried to keep my voice steady, but I know that I sounded like a teacher who is angry and scolds a child for interrupting. I turned back to House, but she wasn't done. She began waving her hand frantically in my face.

Now this was my breaking point. I almost snapped at her right there and then. I couldn't believe that she violated my personal space in such an immature and inappropriate manner. I knew I had to ignore her, or it wasn't going to be pretty. I continued talking to House and acted like there was nothing going on.

She finally got fed up and turned to Foreman to ask him what it meant. I knew I had to get away from her. She had been here for one full day, and already I was so annoyed with her. I had no idea how I was going to handle this from now on. Thank goodness tonight was the night that we all were going out for dinner and drinks. I sure could use a drink right about now, and I knew it would make me feel better to talk about it with everyone outside of work. House's voice cut into my thoughts.

"Well, the biopsy is schedule for tomorrow morning, there is nothing more we can do tonight."

We all began packing up, and exchanged knowing looks with one another. We knew where we were going.

Chapter 9

Foreman, Chase and I got on the elevator together. As soon as we knew we were out of earshot, we all started talking at once.

"Oh my God, can you believe that?"

"What is up with that Felia?"

"What makes her think that she can act like that?"

"We don't even know her!"

"She thinks she is better than us."

"How does she not realize that what she has to say is not important?"

"Nothing she says is even relevant!"

"And House didn't even say a word to her!"

"He didn't even give her any snark!"

And we got off the elevator. We silently walked to our cars, and upon a parting glance, smiled. We were all happy to be going out, we were all so very happy to be getting away from Felia.

Chapter 10

We all pulled into the parking lot just about the same time, so we waited for one another and walked in together. We were talking and laughing, and as we walked in, I looked to see if House had arrived yet. Sure enough, there he was, sitting at our regular booth. But there was someone beside him. I could only see the back of her head from where I was standing, but I felt a piece of me die that moment.

"House!" I exclaimed. I sat down next to him. I always did like sitting next to him, but now there was an added bonus of not getting caught next to her. Foreman quickly took the seat next to me, leaving Chase to go on the other side, which he did, reluctantly.

We all sat there in an awkward silence without knowing what to do or what to say. Finally, I had to say something.

"Chase, Foreman- you guys want to do the appetizer sampler that we usually get?" They both nodded. Luckily, the waiter came over shortly after that. I ordered a drink (which I never do), and House gave me a strange look. I ignored it, and ordered the appetizer for the rest of us. When it came to Felia, she ordered tea and two entrees. What she was going to do with a burger and chicken broccoli ziti, I had no idea.

When the appetizer came, we all were ready to dig in. There were mozzarella sticks, potato skins, buffalo wings, and chicken fingers. Since I only eat the mozzarella sticks and the potato skins, the guys always take care of the rest. We ate the whole thing fairly quickly, and it was almost gone, but there was one mozzarella stick left. I told Foreman or Chase to eat it, which of course, ended up in a disagreement over who should have it. None of us wanted it, but really, we all wanted it. We stopped talking for a moment, and Felia leaned over and took the last mozzarella stick. We looked at her but didn't know what to say. She took a bite of it, and then put it down on her plate. She didn't touch it again. Not only had she stolen from us our last piece of food that we had clearly been fighting over, but she had the audacity to leave it there uneaten and going to waste! The rest of our food came, and sure enough, she ate almost all of her meals. We were in shock; but House didn't seem fazed at all.

It came time to pay the bill. We didn't stay as long as usual, mostly because the three of us wanted to get out of there. Foreman went to ask the waiter for the bill, and gave it to me (since I always was the one in charge of figuring out how much we owed). Recently, House had actually been putting in money to help us out, and tonight was no different. He threw in a twenty and a few fives, which was way more than what he owed.

"Use that to start. Don't worry about the change." Felia looked at him and sighed with relief.

"Oh good, because I didn't have any money!" I looked at Foreman and Chase. We all put in how much we owed, and Felia put in nothing. I couldn't understand how someone could order over twenty dollars worth of food and not put any money in to help pay for it! House ended up paying for her meal completely. I had never seen House be so generous with anyone, not even Wilson, let alone us. And here he was, seemingly unscathed by her. He still had not made one sarcastic or witty remark to her, and yet continued to take digs at us every chance that he could get.

Abruptly, I stood up, and Chase and Foreman followed suit. We said our goodbyes and left, with Felia and House remaining at the table.

Once outside, we didn't know what to say.

"We have to talk to House" thought Chase, "we can't deal with this. It isn't fair to us, and how can he just throw another person on us without even asking if we wanted to allow her to come? We do keep this a secret, after all."

But I knew it was no use. For whatever reason, House was not going to admit to feeling the same way about this girl that we did. It just seemed so obvious, but House didn't hate her. Which doesn't mean that he likes her; House likes nobody. But even _I_ hated her, and I don't hate people! I had to say something in the morning, but it was a hopeless cause.

I didn't sleep well that night. In truth, I really don't sleep well any night, but this night was particularly bad. All I could think about was how House reacted to Felia, rather, his lack of reactions towards her. I tossed and turned, trying to think about something better, but I realized that it was always House. House was constantly occupying my mind; in my spare time, I daydreamed about him. I was continually creating scenarios in my mind about how we would end up being together, even though I was fully aware that they would never happen. But I couldn't help but to feel threatened by Felia. I was the only female that worked directly with House, and I was used to it. I felt as though this secretary was going to severely damage my relationship to House. For now though, it was all I could do to settle my mind and allow myself some sleep before an early morning.

Chapter 11

I woke up exhausted. I didn't know how I was going to face Felia, and how I was going to manage to function at work on so little sleep. I was tempted to pull a House and just come in late, sleep for a few more hours, but then I remembered that Jody's biopsy was today. My worry overcame my fatigue and I dragged myself out of bed.

When I arrived at work, nobody was in the office. I was a few minutes late, so I figured that they would all be heading down to surgery. I caught up with Foreman and Chase in the hallway and we went down together. House wasn't in yet.

They performed the biopsy on Jody, and the surgeon reported to us with a bit of confusion.

"It appeared to be lymphoma, but as soon as I began slicing the tissue, I realized that it wasn't a tumor at all. Your patient doesn't have cancer, but I have no idea what that is."

I breathed a sigh of relief, and practically ran to tell her husband the good news, with Chase and Foreman following close behind.

"Mr. Samson!" I exclaimed, "Jody is recovering from surgery, the procedure went just fine. Our biopsy revealed that she doesn't have a tumor—it isn't cancer." A wide smile crossed his face and he jumped up and hugged me. I wasn't expecting that, but being the type of person that I am, I simply hugged back.

"You should know though, sir, that although we have discovered that it is not cancer, this has eliminated all of our options. We actually do not have any thoughts yet as to what might be wrong with her." Thank goodness for Foreman. I knew that Mr. Samson needed to hear the reality of the situation, but I didn't think that I could bring myself to tell him.

We then retreated back to the office in search of House.

Chapter 12

When we walked in, we noticed that House was in his office, sitting at his desk… talking to Felia! I felt my heart constrict the tiniest bit, and tried my absolute hardest to remain calm.

"Fine, I'll get him." Foreman banged on the door. "House! We have a patient to treat!" House got up and walked in.

"Morning, sunshines! My, aren't we a happy bunch today!" I glared at him. I knew I didn't look good, and I was certainly in no mood to hear it.

"The biopsy revealed that it isn't cancer. It looks like a lymphoma, but apparently the tissue is nothing like it" Chase explained.

We had no new ideas. House finally responded,

"Go get the biopsied tissue. We need to see what it is made of." He grabbed his cane and limped back into his office, where Felia had stayed.

"I'll do it" Chase offered, and he was off. Foreman and I decided that it might be a good time to look at some material for our articles. Sitting with him bouncing ideas around took my mind off the fact that Felia was only a few feet away from us, in House's office, with the door closed. Finally she emerged, without House, leaving his door open, and left without a glance towards either one of us. I waited until she was definitely gone before making my move.

I slowly approached House, who was absent-mindedly throwing his ball up against the wall and catching it with his cane. It appeared that House wasn't doing much, but I knew that this was how he kept himself distracted enough to be able to think clearly. Doesn't seem to make much sense, but it works for him.

"House?" he looked up at me. "Could I borrow some of your books? Foreman and I need a bit more research and—"

"Take whatever you need." I knew that he was concentrating on the case, which was why he didn't really listen to what I was saying. But as I went to look through his bookshelf, he got up rather quickly and reached down on the floor to hand me a pile of books.

"These will help you." I took what he handed to me, and as I leaned over for them, my hand brushed up against his. I managed to hide the shiver that went through my body, but I noticed that both of us seemed reluctant to pull away. Finally, I had to break this trance. Holding the books firmly, I began to speak.

"House, why did you ask Felia to come with us last night? I thought our outings were supposed to be kept secret?"

"Why, is she a problem?"

"Well… none of us really like her all that much. She doesn't fit in. She can't relate to us, and she is rude and interrupts and everything she says is irrelevant. We don't know her at all, and we feel strange and out of place around her." House didn't respond.

"Do you… do you like her?"

"She brings me coffee. And she is interested in learning about medicine and what I do. She can't be that bad." And at that, House turned back to his mystery.

Chapter 14

Usually he does these things on his own, but I know the look House gets when he figures something out. And he doesn't realize it, but I follow him. I like to see his tactics of getting information out of a patient that proves him right, even if I could never bring myself to use them. It fascinates me how his mind works and how accurate he is, despite the constant pain and the Vicoden.

He pushed open the sliding door and stared at the newlywed couple making out.

"Ok, ok, make out session is over. That will cost you $50, another $200 if you want to keep going for the hour. Or, if you'd rather try something different, I have a pretty skinny little thing in my office that I'm sure must be damn good at giving h—"

Mr. Samson shot straight up and faced House.

"Who the hell are you?!" It always amuses me when the patient meets their primary doctor for the first time, especially when he has done something so insulting before introducing himself. But I couldn't believe what he just said about me! Practically calling me a prostitute. But I laughed inside. It made me feel better to know that House was still treating me the same as ever.

"I am Dr. Gregory House, and I am the one trying to cure your wife. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to ask Judy some questions."

"Jody! Her name is Jody!"

"Judy, Jody, same thing. Judy, you have eosinophilic pneumonia, which basically means that the tumor we found is made up of white blood cells. Now, this can be caused by a parasite, or it can be a reaction to medication. Are there any other medications that you took recently for the first time that you haven't told us about? Maybe something special for the wedding?"

Jody looked down, embarrassed. House was right. He always was.

"Be… Before the wedding, my sister told me to go to a dermatologist to get myself on a skin regimen that would keep my skin clear for the wedding. He gave me some medicine; I think it was an antibiotic. He said that he sees lots of brides and gives them all the same thing and it works!" A quick glance at Mr. Samson alerted me to the fact that this was not going to go over well.

"You did what?! You actually took medicine instead of washing your face? I can't believe you would do such a thing!" He practically blew up in her face. A tear slipped down Jody's cheek.

"Chris, I didn't tell you because I knew you would think it was silly. I knew you would say it was a waste of money. But I wanted so desperately for our pictures to come out perfect. These are our memories that are going to last for the rest of our lives; this is what we will have to show our children and our grandchildren. And I didn't want to risk having an outbreak on the most important day of my life!" With that, Jody buried her head in her pillow and began sobbing.

"Well, your desire for perfect pictures almost killed you. But you'll be just fine. Physically, of course." House was about to leave the room and I took off. I couldn't let him catch me watching. I scurried away and managed to go into the bathroom before he saw me.

Chapter 15

I walked back in a few minutes after House. He gave me a questioning glance, and I shrugged my shoulders. He didn't need an explanation from me.

"She was on drugs to keep her skin clear for the wedding. She had a bad reaction; she's fine now."

Chase and Foreman were elated that the case was solved. I was too, but there was something that seemed strange to me. Although I was definitely happy that she was not dying of cancer, and I was worried about the first big fight of their married life that was sure to be a result of this, I kept thinking about how House knew. He knew that it wasn't a parasite; as soon as that was the next diagnosis he immediately left the room. And although he didn't say it directly, he made it quite obvious to Jody that he knew what she had taken.

I know House is a brilliant doctor, but what experience does he have in the off-label use of an antibiotic that is given to brides? It may be common, but not in our field. I am a doctor _and_ have been a bride, and I never knew about that; never would have guessed it.

Chapter 16

The case was solved, and it was time to go home. It was still fairly early, but I figured House wouldn't care if I left. I was still exhausted and all I wanted to do was take a warm shower and collapse into bed.

On my drive home, I happened to notice an "open house" sign pointing down a side street that I had never really noticed before. Curious, I decided to go look at it for fun.

I drove down the road a ways and found, to my surprise, that it lead to a really nice section of town. There were a decent amount of houses, but they were all above-average size and spread out, so each one had a significant amount of yard space. I liked all of them, but when I came to the one that was for sale, I knew it had been a mistake coming down here. Regardless, I decided to go in. It was too late now.

The house was a gray cape on a cul-de-sac off the main street. There weren't many houses on the road, and it had a huge amount of land. There was an aboveground pool with a deck in the backyard, but for such a large pool, it seemed to barely take up any space because there was so much more around it. There was a two-car garage, three bathrooms, and four bedrooms. There was an unfinished jacuzzi in the master bedroom, which I knew I would love to finish. One entrance had a farmer's porch and the other had brick steps leading up to it, which I presumed was the main entrance. It was beautiful—I fell in love with it right away.

I knew that the space was much more than I would ever need for myself, but I had been thinking about getting a pet or hosting a foreign exchange student, neither of which I was able to do at my apartment. It would be so nice to be so secluded and yet have plenty of room to do what I wanted. Plus, I rationed, my boyfriend and I had been getting quite serious in these past few months. If we did ever end up getting married, it would be nice to have a place to live, especially one as perfect as this.

House didn't know about my boyfriend. I liked to keep my personal life separate from my professional one, and it had never come up. He lives about two hours away, so I only see him on weekends anyways. Chase and Foreman have met him a few times, but it was a while ago. Mike is a really great guy. We know each other so well. And he definitely treats me right. He is sweet and caring, and does anything he can to make me happy. One of the things that I love about him is his comfort and security around me. He doesn't ever get jealous. He knows about my obsession with House, and he is absolutely fine when I talk about him. We both know that House would never think of me in that way, and Mike has entirely too much fun playing into my fantasies. He knows just what to say and do to make me crazy. He's never offended by it, which is great. Funny… they are alike though, House and Mike. Mike has the same sarcastic biting wit, but just mutters it under his breath instead of saying it aloud. He's quiet, so you have to really be listening when he makes a comment, but if you do, he is the funniest person there.

I decided that this house had to be mine. It was so close to the hospital, and I knew it would definitely be a way to ensure that I could stay at my job here if Mike and I did decide to get married. He didn't have a problem with moving, but he was worried about the cost. This would take care of that. I had more than enough money saved up; I never really spent much on anything. So I went to go find the real estate agent.

Chapter 17

The real estate agent was a petite little woman with short, jet-black hair (it must have been dyed). She had on glasses and her hair pulled back in a bun. She looked so young, but she was dressed for the job. She had to be about my age.

"Excuse me—are you the real estate agent?"

"Yes, I'm Molly Cooper. Are you interested in the house?" Her voice was rather intimidating. For such a small woman, she had a full, booming voice. It was on the deeper side, but it wasn't manly.

Molly was really nice. She gave me the price (which was on the higher side), and offered to give me a tour of the house. I graciously took her up on the offer, and spent the most of the evening talking with her about it. She gave me her card before I left, and I knew that I would be calling her really soon.

Chapter 18

After spending the afternoon with the exciting new prospect of buying a house, my exhaustion had faded away. I knew that this was what I wanted, and I wasn't going to wait until the next morning. I called Molly and left her a message, telling her that I was sure and I wanted it. I was ecstatic, and I hoped that Mike was going to approve. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him right away or wait until I was sure it went through. He wasn't going to be able to make it up for a few days to see it anyways, so I wanted to wait and surprise him.

I talked to Molly throughout the next few days and met with her a few times when I could to make sure everything was all set. She was so kind and helpful, very knowledgeable, and I really enjoyed her company. I had a feeling that given enough time, Molly and I were going to be become great friends.

Finally, the weekend rolled around, and Mike came to visit me. I drove him to the new house to show him my latest purchase. He was thrilled. I was so happy that he liked it too, and wasn't mad at all that I went ahead and did something so big without even telling him.

Chapter 19

The next few weeks went by without much significance. The house was officially mine, and I planned to move in when my lease for my apartment was up, which would be at the beginning of the summer. Foreman and I continued working on our articles, and were almost finished with them. We hoped that we would be able to submit them in time to be published in the summer periodical of any one of a number of medical journals. Things seemed to be pretty normal, but our regular outings with House certainly had become interesting.

Felia was there almost every time. House still treated her with indifference, and refused to listen to anything we had to say against her. Foreman and Chase had both said something to House as well, but as we all know, he is a stubborn bstard who always gets his own way. But Felia didn't seem to understand the concept of what we were doing at all. The first time she brought her boyfriend with her, we thought for sure that this was going to be the day that House said something to her. But he said nothing. Within the next few weeks, she brought two more boyfriends. Apparently she goes through them fairly quickly. I overheard her telling a nurse that her break-up after six months was hard on her, but I didn't understand _which_ boyfriend it could possibly be!

Her presence got so bad that Chase stopped coming. He was so frustrated with her, if he knew she would be there, he would make up an excuse as to why he couldn't go. For the most part, I was able to convince Foreman to still come with me. I still wanted to go and spend as much time with House as I could, but I dreaded it being just him, Felia, and me. And I was worried about what would happen if by chance it just ended up being House and myself alone!

The rare occasions when she didn't show up were a welcome relief for all of us. We were never given an explanation as to why she wasn't there, and we certainly were not about to ask. Sometimes, she tricked us. We'd come in and see that she wasn't there, and then about half way through dinner, she would show up. The sinking feeling that came over me in those moments I can't even describe. It was hard to get a chance to talk to House ever without her being around.

It puzzled me to no end why House was acting this way. He didn't seem to particularly _like_ her, and he seemed to completely ignore our negative reactions to her. There had to be a reason, but what?

Chapter 20

Foreman and I had final finished our articles. It had taken a long time, but it was worth it. And just in time too. I had taken the next couple of days off, and Mike was coming up to help me move. I brought the articles in for House to sign. He barely glanced at them before signing, which I expected, and handed them back to me.

"Thank you."

"So Cameron," he began, "I was talking to your good friend Felia the other day, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with any of you. No tension, no hard feelings…"

"You asked her about us?! I hope you didn't tell her that we have issues with her!"

"No, of course not" he smirked.

It was then that it hit me. I couldn't believe that I had missed this all along. He was playing with us—with me! As soon as he saw our initial reactions to Felia, he devised a plan to torture us with her. See what kind of reactions he could get; see how far we would go. It seemed so obvious to me now that I couldn't believe I had missed it for so long. I resolved to beat him at his own game. I resolved that every time I was around Felia in House's presence, I would be absolutely, positively, sickeningly sweet to her. I would show House, and her at the same time.

But for now, it was time to celebrate. I brought the articles to Foreman, who had just returned from clinic duty. For some reason, House followed me. Chase was sitting at the table, reading or doing something to make himself look busy. I handed Foreman the articles and we hugged. It was about time.

"Awww, isn't this just so sweet! We managed to write articles together this time, didn't we?" House jeered mockingly. But we just ignored him. It wasn't worth it. At that moment, I happened to glance out our glass window and saw Mike standing there, looking around a bit lost. He had never been to the hospital before, and I was excited to see him. He had come a day early! I ran out into the hallway—I ended up sneaking up on him and surprising _him_ instead of him surprising me! He followed me back into the office, where I introduced him to House. House tersely shook his hand and left without a word. I initially shrugged it off, and Mike and I left to go start moving my stuff into the new house.

Chapter 21

The next day at work, my last day before my mini-vacation, Chase managed to corner me before anyone else got there.

"House didn't know about Mike?"

"No, I guess not. I mean, I didn't hide it from him on purpose. It just never came up. Why do you ask?" Chase laughed.

"You should have seen his face when you went out there! He glared at you the whole time. 'Who the hell is it that?!' he shouted, and whenever I said it was your boyfriend Mike, his face almost turned red from anger. He would have left before you came back in, but I think he was too angry to think clearly!" It was my turn to laugh.

"Oh come on Chase, it couldn't have been that bad! You must be exaggerating."

"Cameron, I swear to you, I'm not. I wish you could have seen his reaction. It was priceless."

Chapter 22

Chase's account of House's reaction to Mike gave me a lot to think about. I wasn't sure that actually believed him, in all honesty. The only reason that House would get mad at me for something like that would be if he had feelings for me—and he made it pretty clear that he didn't. There was still a part of me that held on to the fact that he did, but I knew that even if that were the case, nothing would come of it. I was his employee, after all, and I know that for all his comments, he wasn't comfortable with the age difference.

But the conversation had put a smile on my face and a spring in my step. Even the slightest hint of House's feelings towards me could do that. I desperately sought an opportunity to flirt with him, but he steered clear of me for pretty much the whole day. I was disappointed, but I knew I would have plenty of opportunity in the future. Maybe it was good that I was going to be taking the next few days off—it would give House a chance to calm down and stop avoiding me.

Chapter 23

Packing, moving, and unpacking took a lot out of me. I seemed to lose track of the days. I was barely stopping to eat or to sleep. Thank goodness Mike was there to help, otherwise, I don't know how I would have survived. We did it all on our own, without help from movers or renting a truck, so it was intense work. Our second night, as I was organizing what was going to the house the next day, I came across a pile of books that didn't belong to me.

I realized immediately that they were the books House lent to me when I was working on my article. I wasn't due back into work for about another week, but I was worried that I would lose them somewhere in the messes here and at the new house. It was too late to call, so I shot him an email.

Dr. House 

_I just discovered that I still have the books you lent me for my article. When would be a good time to come drop them off to you tomorrow? If I keep them for any longer, I am worried that they will get lost somewhere along the way._

_Thanks,_

_Cameron_

Chapter 24

The next morning I checked my email, and as early as it was, House had already responded.

_Hi C,_

_Come after lunch._

Dr. H 

So it was. I had some time to do some more work before heading up to the hospital, so I got as much done as I could.

I walked into the hospital wearing jean capris and a purple camisole. My hair was thrown back in a ponytail. I never would have gone looking like that, but it was so hot that if I wore any more than that, I wouldn't have been able to work. Actually, I did want to change before going to see House. But I realized that all of my clothes were packed in boxes, and I didn't have time to go through and try to find something suitable. So I went as I was.

Entering the office, I noticed that nobody was around. I was grateful, especially because of the lack of Felia. I knew she could appear at any moment, and I wanted to get this done before anyone saw me. House's door was slightly ajar, so I knocked before walking in. The light was off, but he was there, playing his video game. I suppose it was easier for him to see that way. He hadn't acknowledged me yet, so I decided to address him first.

"Hi Dr. House." He looked up at me, and paused for a moment to examine me. I could tell he wasn't expecting me to be dressed in such a way, and I blushed under his gaze. Thankfully, it was dark, so he couldn't see it. I sat down in the chair across from his desk and handed him the books.

"Thank you so much for letting us use these. You were right; they were exactly what we were looking for. It helped us out so much in writing our articles—we were able to quote from them a few times."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're grateful. So how is the moving coming?" I was a bit taken aback by House's question. He never really seemed to care much about my personal life. But he seemed genuinely interested, so I told him. We actually had a decent conversation. It seemed a bit unlike House, but I was willing to take whatever I could get at this point. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

I knew immediately that it had to be Felia. House got up and went to the door and peeked out. I couldn't hear what he said to her, but then he came back and sat down again.

"That was your rival out there, Felia."

"She isn't my rival!" I retorted.

"Oh yes, how could I forget. She is your new best friend."

"Do you have to go?" I asked, timidly.

"No, I told her she could wait. There are chairs out there." I gave House a mischievous smile.

"Well, I suppose you'd do the same if it were me." House leaned closer to me, and responded in a voice just above a whisper.

"If it were you, I would have kicked her out." I could practically feel his breath on my skin as he said it. My heart skipped a beat as I realized what he had said. I raised my eyebrows and looked at him with disbelief, but I was dancing inside.

Chapter 25

After that comment, I was anxious to see House. It was all I could think about. I was getting antsy from being off from work for so long, even though I was extremely busy. As excited as I was about my new house, nothing compares with the exhilaration of solving a challenging case. And it was as though my longing for House came back in full force. It seemed that I could never get my mind off of him. I deliberated over whether or not I should have a house party to celebrate my new home, but I realized that it could only be bad: House wouldn't come, he would come and bring Felia along, or he would come and him and Mike would end up in a serious tiff. It wasn't worth the disappointment, the awkwardness, or the drama.

One of the first things I did once I was settled into the house was to open the pool. I love swimming, and I couldn't believe that I would be able to every day from now on if I wanted.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to go back to work. Mike had been gone for a few days, and I was waiting anxiously for the day that I could go back. Seems strange, but my career really has become my life at this point. I enjoy it, and what more could I ask for?

Chapter 26

I brought bagels for everyone. When I got in, Felia was the only one there. Usually I would have just ignored her, but I was in such a good mood that I was willing and happy to talk to anyone. Not only that, but I had decided to be nice to her to see how House would react. I figured that even though he wasn't here yet, it would be beneficial for me to have this to throw in his face the next time it came up.

"Felia, I brought some bagels. Would you like one?" She looked up from her desk, and then stood up and walked over.

"Sure!" she said, "How was your vacation?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a vacation. I was moving into a new house." We ended up talking for quite some time. We talked about where we lived (mostly about my new house and her pets), and where we had gone to school and what we did there. It was actually a decent conversation and I didn't want to kill her. A few things came up that worried me a little. She knew a few minor personal details about Chase and Foreman that I felt she had no right to know. I wondered where she got her information, but I didn't know how to call her out on it without making the conversation awkward.

Foreman and Chase came in, which saved me from having to talk to Felia anymore. I was thankful for it—I don't know how much longer I could have lasted talking to her. They too wanted to know all about the house, and it was much more fun for me to talk about to them. They are my friends, and I know that while they have their moments, they do actually care.

I was beginning to wonder what happened to House. He was later than usual, which means it was practically lunchtime and we had sat there talking all morning. Just then, Cuddy came in.

"Foreman, Cameron! Both of your articles have been accepted to be published! Congratulations. I just found out about it." Cuddy stayed and talked to us about it for a little while. It was such a good day for me, things just seemed to be getting better. But then, as Cuddy got up to go leave, she turned around at the door and looked at me.

"Cameron" she started, "I just found out that House's father died unexpectedly last night. I thought I should tell you."

"Oh no!" I exclaimed.

"He won't be here today because he flew out to see his mother. But he is still coming into work tomorrow, even though I told him not to. You know House." A million thoughts went through my head. I know they weren't close, but how awful! I can't believe that he still wanted to come into work; he should stay with his mother for longer than a day. I had to do something for him, even though he wouldn't want it. I could make him cookies! That's what I would do. And buy a card… and get everyone in the hospital to sign it.

"Anyways" Cuddy continued, "I guess that means you guys are free to do whatever you want."

Chapter 27

Cuddy left, and I glanced over at the boys. They both seemed a bit shaken by the news, but then we all heard a loud sob and turned to face Felia. She had tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. She got up and fled the room. We ignored this outburst.

"I feel so bad. I know House and his father weren't close, but it is still a terrible thing. We should go to the wake." Foreman and Chase nodded their heads. It was the right thing to do, after all. I got up and went to search for the obituary online. I found it fairly easily, but when I read it, I couldn't believe my eyes. I read and reread the first three lines over and over. I couldn't get past them.

I was in shock. Now this may seem funny, but it takes a lot to do that to me. I always have these gut feelings that pretty much preclude anyone from surprising me. But this, this, was unexpected. I have never had such an immediate reaction in my life—it was almost violent. I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to do. I had so many emotions running through me at the same time, there aren't words to describe it. But the only thing that I could distinctly register was a sense of betrayal.

I knew it wasn't right. I couldn't feel betrayed by this. House has done so many insane things before, but this topped them all. I didn't have the right to feel betrayed. I had no hold on him; he had no obligation to tell me anything. But I trusted him, I really did. Although we didn't actually talk much about things of significance, I did feel as though I could tell him anything. And finding out that a person that you have known for years has such a huge secret… he never mentioned it once. Nothing ever remotely came up to indicate this.

Foreman walked over to me. I don't know if he saw the look on my face or if he thought I needed help, but it doesn't matter.

"Did you find it?" I could barely nod in response. He came over and began to read the obituary over my shoulder. I knew when he came to that part because his reaction was so similar to mine. He froze, and stared. Neither of us could say anything.

Chapter 28

Chase's sigh seemed to bring us both back to reality for a moment.

"I can't just sit here doing nothing. I am going to go down the clinic." And with that, he left.

I took in a deep breath and turned to Foreman.

"We can't say anything. We can't say anything to anyone." He nodded.

"Although, I wonder why the wake and the funeral are being held here," I mused.

"Probably because House wouldn't go if it were anywhere else. I'm sure he'd have some excuse about work and this way, he can't do that." Foreman speculated.

"Good point. Ok, well we know where it is tomorrow. I'm going to go and do some stuff." I had finally been able to read the rest of the obituary, and I knew I had to go before I sat here all day. I didn't want anyone to catch us either. I quickly got out of the window and got up and left.

At this point, I had the whole thing practically memorized. The words kept drifting in and out of my head all day. I could still see it…

**J**ohn House, May 22, 2007. Beloved husband of Blythe (O'Farrell) House. Loving father of Sage House and her partner Matthew Keeley and Gregory House and his wife Elizabeth. Grandfather of Alexis Keeley. Loving brother of Camilla McDonald and the late Bradford House and Natalie Walsh. Funeral from the Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Ave, PRINCETON. Funeral Mass in Trinity Church, Friday at 10:00 A.M. Relatives and friends invited. Visiting hours Thursday 4:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

Chapter 29

I went to the grocery store and bought the ingredients I needed to make chocolate chip cookies, and then I went to CVS to find a card. It took me a while, but I finally found one that was suitable. The message was short and sweet, it was in darker, earthy colors and there were no flowers on it. And there was nothing about religion in it either. Plus, there was plenty of space. I also found a dark blue plate that I figured I could use to put the cookies on. With my purchases, I went home and began baking.

The cookies came out a bit on the smaller side, but they tasted good. That was all that mattered. I arranged them on the plate, signed the card, and decided to do some reading before bed.

I couldn't focus. All I could think of was that House was married. Married! How could he be married? He didn't wear a ring, he certainly lived alone… how could this be? There was no explanation that I could think of. If they were divorced, she wouldn't have been in the obituary, and if she had died, it would say "and his late wife Elizabeth"… I thought I had known so much about this man. I knew where he went to school and what he did, the places he had worked, his favorite games, his favorite TV shows, what he likes to wear, what kind of music he listens to, where he hangs out (when he _does_ go out), what he likes to drink, his leg problem, his medications, problems he's had with authority, and those were just things off the top of my head. How could I not know that he had a wife!

I fell asleep with this running through my head. And my last thought was 'oh God, what if this is a Mr. Rochester situation??'

Chapter 30

I woke up early despite my lack of sleep and went into work earlier than usual. I began to go through all of the offices to get everyone that I possibly could to sign the card. I know that most of the people in the hospital don't particularly like House, but barely anyone said anything to me and they just signed it. I was able to get most of the hospital, which made me happy.

As much as I dreaded doing it, I knew I had to have Felia sign the card. There was no reason for me not to ask her, and I had to show House that I really was trying to be nice. I happened to come across her in the hallway and stopped her.

"Felia! I have a card for Dr. House. Would you sign it?"

"I already have a card for him."

"Well, that's ok, you can sign ours too." And she did. But I wasn't happy that she had her own special card for him. She walked away and I continued on.

I decided to save the card and leave it at the wake. But for now, it was time to go find House to give him the cookies.

He wasn't around until much later on in the day. He didn't look like he wanted to talk to anybody, but I approached him anyways.

"Dr. House, I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't matter" he replied "it isn't like I was close to that bstard." He began to walk into his office, and I followed him. But so did Felia. Both of us standing in his office was more than awkward. She kept looking over at me like she wanted me to leave. Finally, I took the hint and left. They were in there for a while. I could hear her talking (her voice isn't exactly quiet) but I don't know what he was saying. After a while, she left, again with red eyes and obvious tear-stained cheeks.

Chapter 31

I waited until she had gone to knock on the door. He didn't respond, but I went in anyways.

"Here, I made you some cookies." He saw them and half-smiled. I knew the food would get to him. I noticed a card on his desk with a single white rose on top of it. My heart sank; I knew it had to be from Felia. He saw me looking at it and motioned to the card.

"From Felia." He stated, simply, and then handed me a piece of paper. I glanced at the paper and recognized it immediately. It was the speech of Socrates from right before his death. I couldn't remember which dialogue it was from (I think it was the Apology), but I remembered reading it before. It was fitting, of course, but a bit clichéd in my opinion. Actually, it was sweet. But I was loath to admit it. I'm sure he's heard it all before, knows where to find such things if he wants them. I tried to stay and talk to him for a little while, but he didn't seem to want to. I knew that he would have to go soon to make it to the wake on time. Before I left, he called out to me.

"Cameron, you don't need to come to the wake or anything. Don't." I didn't respond, but smiled to myself. Of course he knew that we were going to come.

Chapter 32

House had left, and Foreman, Chase and I got ready at the hospital. We thought it would be silly for us all to take separate cars, so Foreman drove. We got there at about 5:30. We saw no sign of Felia, luckily, and hoped with all our hearts that she wouldn't show up.

We walked in and signed the guest book, and I put the card with all the other ones. It was then that House saw the three of us. He gave us one of his looks, and walked over.

"I told you not to come!" I smiled at him.

"You knew we were going to." I said.

"You were the reason I was late today!" And that was the end of it. It was an open casket, and Chase walked over to go pray. I followed him, and Foreman came with us.

"You all decide to be religious now?" House chided us. But it didn't matter. We did the right thing, and I knew no matter how much he was going to berate us for this, somewhere within him he actually appreciated what we had done for him.

He introduced to us to his mother, who is an absolutely wonderful woman. It was a shame that we had to meet under these circumstances. She seemed very well put together, considering the situation. I was impressed. We talked to her for a little while, and House walked away. A few minutes later he was back, with a woman at his side. I had no idea what to expect.

"This is my sister, Sage." I hadn't realized that he had a sister. Later on, I found out that they were actually twins. We introduced ourselves to her and talked to her for a moment before she left again.

"Alright, you've met the most important people; you don't have to meet the whole family." House said.

"Why don't you go in the other room and talk with them for a bit?" his mother suggested. House walked away and we followed him into the other room and sat down. I was frantically looking around for any woman that might be his wife, but there weren't a lot of people there and I didn't see anyone who it could be.

Chapter 33

We ended up staying and talking to him for quite some time. I think it was good, we were able to keep his mind off of things and distract him by talking about cases, our articles, anything we could think of. We actually had a good conversation; it felt like one of the times that we had all gone out to dinner pre-Felia. He told us how she had come back in to visit again after I had left, to which, of course, I immediately pointed out that it was therefore _her_ fault that he was late and not mine. He asked where I got my great powers of observation, and I replied that I learned from the best. He showed us his uncle whom he hated; he had tried to force him to go into business instead of medicine. He didn't introduce us, as was expected.

House left a few times to go check on his mother. One of these times, he came back with a woman.

As soon as I saw her, I knew that she was going to be our link to figuring out this puzzle. I just had one of my feelings. She was a friendly, boisterous woman, and she seemed very close to House. He introduced her as Lydia, one of his sister's good friends. Lydia immediately shook all of our hands.

"Oh, it is so good to meet you all! How nice of you to be here!" she exclaimed. "Greg, it has been far too long" she turned to address him, "when was the last time that I saw you?"

"It was twenty years ago" he answered brusquely. She thought about this for a few moments.

"OH! It was at your wedding! You're right! I can't believe it has been so long!" House immediately glanced over to see the looks on our faces.

"Yes, twenty years ago, like I said" he replied, visibly agitated.

Chase, who hadn't known about anything, was in shock. He was completely taken aback by what she had just said. Foreman glanced around uncomfortably. He didn't know how to take it or how to react, and he wasn't expecting to hear it either. But me, on the other hand, well, I just smiled. I knew that House would look to see my reaction first, and sure enough, he did.

I had reasons for doing it. Thinking quickly, I realized that if Lydia saw the way we reacted, it might cause problems for House later on. Still unknowing of the situation, it appeared that Lydia was fully expecting us to be aware of the fact that he was married. Chase and Foreman clearly showed that this was not the case. But if I smiled, perhaps she would think that at least I knew (maybe he was closer to me than the others) and would therefore not bring it up again. And I was sure that House certainly would not want to talk about it. A part of me also wanted House to know that I found out and was waiting for this moment. His secret wasn't so secret anymore.

Chapter 34

Lydia began to talk to House, and so the three of us began to have our own conversation amongst ourselves. But I was still keeping an ear out to what Lydia was saying. And so I did catch something of interest. She said to him that she had hoped to see her (his wife), but understood that she wouldn't be here in this time and place. This certainly gave me a lot to think about… it actually seemed to reinforce my "Mr. Rochester" theory.

Lydia eventually walked away, and House came back and sat down with us again. He told us that him and Lydia had always been close even though she was his sister's friend, and then immediately changed the subject. We let it go—there was nothing else we could do.

They began to have a prayer service for House's father. We all walked over with him and stood a bit behind his family. It was rather quick (the minister spoke extraordinarily fast), and when it was over, House basically said good-bye to us. We didn't give an indication that we were going to leave, but took his hint. We had been there for about two hours anyways.

He walked us to the door. Foreman shook his hand, Chase hugged him… and I, of course, hugged him as well. He actually hugged me back. It felt so good to be in his arms. I closed my eyes and savored every moment. I was so unwilling to let go, but I had to.

On our way back to the car, we could barely keep from screaming. We ended up sitting in the car for almost an hour talking about what had just happened. Chase was a bit upset that Foreman and I hadn't told him our findings, but he got over it rather quickly. There were so many thoughts and ideas running through our heads that we had to get them all out. But everything just seemed too far-fetched, and a simple answer seemed way too simple.

Back at the hospital, we went in to get our stuff before we went home. Foreman managed to grab me and pull me aside when Chase wasn't around.

"You still like him, don't you?" he asked. I blushed.

"Why do you ask?"

"The way you hugged him. Cameron, you closed your eyes! You were so happy to be hugging him…" he sighed. "Just be careful. You just found out that this man has a secret wife, and you're more in love with him than ever. And you have a boyfriend! I just don't want you to get hurt." Chase came back at this point, which ended the conversation. I was glad; I really didn't want to go there. I knew that Foreman wouldn't understand, and in truth, I didn't know if I even understood it completely myself.

Chapter 35

I would be lying if I said I wasn't freaking out. I think the truth of the situation finally hit me. This was real. And I realized a few things. The first was that if anyone was going to get this out of him, it had to be me. And the second thing was that if I ever asked him, and he didn't answer, I couldn't ask him again. If I was going to say something, I had one chance to do it. And it wasn't going to be easy.

The more I thought about it though, the worse I felt about this whole thing. As much as I wanted to know, I didn't want to hurt him. I have an insanely curious mind, and I don't let things go until I figure them out. But this couldn't be good. I felt guilty for talking about it with Foreman and Chase and coming up with all those theories. I cared about him even more now… there was something so sad to me in knowing that he had once been in a happy relationship that didn't work than if he had just been the way he is now his whole life.

I kept replaying the hug in my mind. I wanted to hug him again; I wanted to be close to him more than anything.

Chapter 36

We decided not to go the funeral the next morning. We were worried that it was too personal and that we shouldn't be there. We knew House wouldn't be at work, so we took our time coming in the next day. Strangely enough, as late as we all were, Felia wasn't in yet. I glanced at the time. If she had gone to the funeral… I don't know what I would have done with myself. She walked in five minutes later and I sighed with relief. She hadn't gone to the wake; she hadn't gone to the funeral. Despite her over-emotional reaction and her card and rose, she didn't actually do the right thing.

I was starting to think of Felia as direct competition. As much as I disliked her, my dislike was well placed. I felt that she wasn't genuine, and I couldn't stand her being around House so much. I care about him so much, and it drives me crazy to see someone else trying to get in on my territory. He isn't mine. He isn't mine. I know he isn't mine, but I actually care about him! I don't have ulterior motives! I didn't trust her. I didn't trust anyone, but there is just something about her that got to me more and more every time I came in contact with her.

Chapter 37

House was gone for a few days. It was lonely without him around, at least for me. I'm sure that for everyone else, it was a welcome relief.

Chase and I had done a search for "Elizabeth House" on the internet, and had come up with plenty of results. She actually worked just down the street, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as a nurse. She was born and raised in Illinois, and married House less than three years after her graduation from Wheaton College. How had they met? It isn't like she lived close—and if they met after her graduation, it means they got married after only knowing each other for about two years! So she wasn't crazy; she wasn't Bertha. She was a full functioning member of society. We couldn't find her phone number or address; it appeared that both her and House were unlisted. And strangely enough, she kept her last name as House. We found out that her birth name was Elizabeth Marie Winslow. We found some pictures too. One was of her as probably a twelve year old—she was cute. She had what seemed to be blonde (the pictures were in black and white) pigtail braids and a bright face. We found a more recent picture of her and her family in Illinois from 2001. She was a very large woman, with a very short haircut, and didn't look very happy or content. We also found out that she was very active in the Calvin Church.

After catching Foreman up on all this information, we realized that this only served to confuse us more. Basically, all of our possible theories were ruled out. We didn't know where to go from here. Foreman and Chase went down to get lunch, but I stayed for a bit. I was starting to feel guilty again. As I searched for information, I was excited and wanted to find out more, but now, afterwards, I just felt sick. How could I do this to him? We had a really good thing, House and I, as messed up as it was sometimes. And I really did not want to ruin that. I didn't want to hurt him. He was hurt enough.

Chapter 38

I decided to go Dunkin Donuts. I needed a break and I needed to calm down. I needed to stop myself from thinking and from allowing myself to be prey to my emotions. I left without telling anyone where I was going or what I was doing. Which turned out to be a mistake.

Halfway there, my car broke down. Foreman and Chase both had their phones off, and nobody was in the office. I had called for a tow truck, but had no way to get back to work. Finally, I got in touch with Wilson.

"Wilson! It's Cameron. My car broke down on Route 1. Is there any way you can come pick me up or send someone to get me? My car was already towed to a garage."

"What? Yes, of course. Stay where you are, I'll be right there!" Thank goodness for Wilson. He is always so willing to help.

Chapter 39

I never did get to Dunkin Donuts. But Wilson picked me up and brought me back to the hospital. It had already been such a long day. Upon checking my email, I noticed something from House. Before even reading it, it brought a smile to my face. This was just what I needed.

_C,_

_I'll be at our regular meeting place tonight at 6._

_Dr. H_

I went down to the clinic in search of Chase and Foreman. Both of them were able to go, and they offered to give me a ride. I was hoping that since he wasn't in, he wouldn't have a way to tell Felia and it would just be the four of us, like it used to be.

We decided to head over straight after work. When we got there, House was already sitting down at our table—alone. I couldn't remember the last time we were all here without Felia. I sat down next to House, as I was accustomed to. He seemed to be doing fine; he was unaffected by his father's death. I wasn't surprised. Even if he wasn't fine, he never would have let us know. It was so nice to have a candid conversation with House again. At one point, his leg brushed up against mine, and I froze. I didn't want to move—I didn't move. Eventually, he did. And neither of us acknowledged what just happened. I didn't apologize, as I usually would have. It took everything in me to not react.

We had been there for about an hour and a half, and to our consternation, Felia showed up. I said hi to her when she walked in, but she ignored me, and then made a point to say hi and address Foreman and Chase directly. To all of our dismay, she ordered a scotch. At first, I was sure she was going to give it to House, but when it arrived, she drank it herself. It absolutely disgusts me how much of a suck up she is. I looked at Chase across the table, and we both were trying our hardest to not burst into laughter right then and there.

About ten minutes later, Chase and Foreman got up to leave. I knew I would have to go with them because I needed a ride, but I didn't want to.

"Well, I guess that means me too. I don't have my car so I need to get a ride off of one of you" I said sadly.

"I have my car" Felia offered, "if you need a ride." I was reluctant to take her up on it, but I was so fed up. I didn't want to let her spend any more time alone with House. And honestly, I wanted to. I had missed him and was hoping to be able to actually talk to him.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Felia shook her head. I knew she wasn't expecting me to accept, but it worked out well for me.

Chapter 40

Oddly enough, ten minutes after Chase and Foreman left, Felia stood up to leave. It was still early, and I didn't want to go quite yet.

"Dr. House" I began, "would you mind bringing me back a bit later?" I had no idea what he was going to say.

"No, fine." I was elated. Felia left; he walked her out. But then it was just House and me for the rest of the night. We sat there and talked for two hours. We talked about everything you could imagine. He seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, and I got some stories out of him too. He actually told me about his relationship with Cuddy, which I wasn't expecting.

"Cuddy and I were always close. It didn't work out."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh… I shouldn't have been seeing her anyways, for other reasons." His hints about his wife were abundant tonight, but I didn't push it and I never asked for any more information than he was willing to tell me. I knew that Foreman and Chase would be angry that I didn't tell them, but I didn't want to. I wanted to keep everything about this conversation private. I wanted House to know that he could trust me, even if he wouldn't know either way whether I had said anything or not.

It was getting late. I knew that he was going to want to go soon. I dreaded the moment, but of course, it had to come. We left the restaurant and walked out to his car.

Chapter 41

The car ride home was also filled with interesting conversation. Perhaps he was affected by the alcohol, but he didn't show it. He told me about the pain in his leg—I felt so horrible for him. Just hearing him describe how disabling it was made me want to cry. He was warning me about being too trusting, and named a few doctors in particular.

"Do you remember the old X-Files motto, or are you too young to have watched that show?"

"No! I've watched it." I really had, but he was right that I was a bit too young. But I couldn't have him thinking about me as a child. Not now.

"Do you remember the motto, hanging over the desk? Trust no one. How true." I laughed.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me. I never let people tell, but I don't trust anyone. I was a very cynical child. I found this out at a young age—my best friend couldn't keep a secret. Not that six year olds have any deep secrets, but after the first time it happened, I stopped trusting her and I stopped trusting everybody."

"You were a cynical child? You are supposed to grow into your cynicism! Does that mean that you are going in reverse?" I laughed again.

"Oh no, the cynicism isn't going anywhere!"

"So if you were such a cynical child, does that mean that you escaped childhood untraumatized?" He seemed to genuinely care about my answer. I was really touched by it.

"Well… not quite. Everyone has their trauma. My problem consisted mostly in the fact that because I was so aware of what was going on, I thought I could handle a lot more than I really could. I was so wrong." He was silent. I hoped with all my heart that despite our conversation on not trusting anyone, he realized that I did trust him. I wanted him to know that I would confide in him, anything, if only he were to ask. And I felt that he did trust me too. Maybe not completely, but some of the things he said to me earlier in the night meant there had to be something. I know he wouldn't have said things like that in front of Foreman and/or Chase.

Chapter 42

We got back to my house and he pulled in the driveway. I was impressed that he remembered where it was, since I think I had only told him the address once, and he had never been here. I was reluctant to leave. My hand was on the doorknob, and he kept asking me questions to make me stay. I leaned over and gave him a hug. Hugs in a car are always a bit strange to begin with, but this wasn't awkward at all. I held on for much longer this time, and so did he. I didn't want to pull away, but I was scared of myself. I didn't know what I would do if I held on any longer. We pulled away slowly, our arms still resting and brushing up against one another.

As I opened the door, I realized that at this point, I had nothing to lose.

"House… do you want to come in? I mean, you haven't seen my new place yet—" Before I had finished speaking, he had shut the car off and was standing beside me. We walked up to the house together. We went in through the garage and I shut off the alarm. I could tell that he was awed by the sheer size of the house. I have to admit, for one person, it really does seem like a lot. I gave him a brief tour, including the upstairs and my bedroom.

"Whoa, nice jacuzzi. Planning on having any crazy sex parties, orgies up here? Can I come?"

"Maybe, when its finished. They are coming to work on it next week. But for now, I do have the pool out back opened. Want to go swimming?" He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I said I wanted to have sex in a jacuzzi. What about that makes you think that I want to drown in a freezing cold pool?!"

"I'm serious! It is an aboveground pool, perfect for relaxing. And it is actually warm because I keep the solar cover on it all day. Come on, it would be nice." I could tell that I had convinced him.

"So, are we going skinny-dipping?" he quipped.

"Keep your boxers on. Let me go find my swimsuit and some towels. Wait in the hallway." I only had one swimsuit, because I never had the opportunity to go swimming a lot. It was a dark brown string bikini, with a paisley design in purple and turquoise. It was tight fitting, but cute. I was worried that House was going to think that I was coming on too strong, but I needn't have worried. I grabbed two large towels from the pantry, and went to find House.

Chapter 43

I opened the door, and there he was, standing in the hallway, almost completely naked. He still had his boxers on, and his clothes were thrown over his arm while he still held onto his cane. The sight of him in so little made me quiver with anticipation.

"Well, looks like you're ready!" I had to break the silence. It was too much for me, watching him look me up and down in my bikini.

"Here, let me take your clothes. I'll leave them in here." I handed him the towels and took his clothes and put them in my bathroom.

"Come on, let's go." House followed me outside. There was a light that I could have put on from the house, but I decided not to. He went up on the deck and sat on the edge of the pool while I went over and turned on the pool light, then proceeded to remove the solar cover (by myself of course, without even an offer to help from House!). It was late, so it was dark out. But the stars shone above us, and with the light from the pool, it was an incredibly romantic situation. I was excited. I had no expectations, but I knew that if anything was ever going to happen between House and myself, this was the night. It was too perfect for something not to happen.

Chapter 44

I joined him on the deck, but instead of sitting down next to him, I did a perfect shallow dive into the pool. I could feel House staring at my ss as I did it, but I didn't care. When I surfaced, I turned to face him.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous? Going to break your neck one of these times—what's going to happen if you're here alone? You'll drown and nobody will find you for days."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I wasn't worried. I just wanted you to be fully aware of what you were getting yourself into."

"I know. Now come on, get in!" House hesitated, and I stole the opportunity. I had been slowly coming closer to him, and in that moment, splashed him with all my might. He instantly retaliated, but it only took him a second to realize that splashing me back didn't matter because I was already wet! I continued to splash him and he jumped in the pool, ever mindful of his bad leg, and grabbed my arms. He pinned them behind my back and dunked me under the water. I came up gasping for air. I hadn't had time to take a big enough breath before he had done it.

"There! What are you going to do now?" and he dunked me again. "See what happens!" I struggled to get away from him, but I was clearly enjoying it. Each of his hands were on both of my arms, and because he had them behind me, his arms were encircling my body and he was almost up against me. We continued this struggle for a bit longer—I couldn't stop laughing, which caused me to almost drown more than once. Finally, he stopped. Still laughing, I was trying to catch my breath and get my hair out of my eyes. I looked at him.

His face was the picture of happiness. I don't think I had ever seen House so happy in all the time I've known him. Not with Stacy, not with Cuddy, not with Wilson, not with Felia. His bright blue eyes shone in the starlight, and I'll never forget the smirk on his face. He was happy—he was having fun. And now he was looking into my eyes.

I've always felt that the eyes are the most important part of a person. It is true, whatever the old saying is, that the eyes are the windows to the soul. You can tell more about a person by looking deeply into their eyes than you can by any words they utter, any tone of voice, any body language. It is extraordinarily hard to hide the way you feel as expressed in your eyes, which is why, I think, so many people refuse to look at another person when they are having a conversation with them. I always look into people's eyes. I want to get that deeper understanding; I want to see who they are. And looking into House's eyes at that moment, I saw all of the repressed feelings that he had for me. I couldn't resist. I couldn't pass up this moment.

I kissed him.

Chapter 45

The second my lips met his, he immediately responded in earnest. His enthusiasm served only to make me melt, and I wanted this more than anything I had ever wanted in my life. His kiss was tender and sweet, letting our lips engage themselves before probing for more. His gentleness with me made my longing for him intensify. Despite his harsh nature, House was genuinely a gentle person. I always knew he would be, but actually feeling it in the moment, it was so different than anything I could have imagined (and trust me, I've done a _lot_ of imagining!). His hands let go of my arms, but he left them wrapped around me. Slowly, his tongue began to feel his way around my mouth, and I responded in kind.

He pulled me in closer. I was leaning with my back up against the side of the pool as he pressed against me. I could feel his wet body, his bare chest, up against my scantily clad self. I shivered and wrapped my freed arms around his body. We both had goosebumps.

Everything else melted away. All of my fears and concerns about Felia, my thoughts of Mike, my wonderment over his wife, it was all gone. Nothing mattered in this moment except our bodies pressed up against each other. I had no second thoughts, no doubts, and there would be no regrets. I wanted this more than ever.

The kiss became increasingly passionate as we became more familiar with each other. Our tongues seemed endlessly entangled. I was barely breathing—I had forgotten the necessity of it. We were so engrossed with each other that nothing else surfaced but the fervor that had been building for years now. My trembling body up against his sensed that he wanted this with every fiber of his being.

We kissed for what seemed like an eternity. His arms wrapped tightly around me, all I could think of was how long I had waited for this and how much better it was than I ever could have imagined. Finally, we broke apart. I tried so hard not to let him see how labored my breathing was. I felt the blood coursing through my veins in excitement, anticipating what was to come. For a while, he just looked at me. Stared into my eyes.


End file.
